


Roll For Charisma

by staymagical



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Basically Lance and Keith play Monsters and Mana, Dragons, M/M, Monsters & Mana (Voltron), Pike is a Little Shit, Seducing a Dragon, Thunderstorm is Unamused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23900428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staymagical/pseuds/staymagical
Summary: Pike comes up with a brilliant unique solution to get around the dragon and Thunder is not happy about it.“It’s a—““—Dragon,” Thunder finishes with a deadpan.As if they don’t have enough to deal with already. Yes, they may have finally found the amulet and Pike effortlessly managed to slip it into his pocket without immediate notice but not before their general presence in the kingdom was reported to Prince Ezra himself. And that in and of itself was enough of a problem.Throw a dragon into the mix and it’s safe to say they weren’t having the best of luck at the moment.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Pike/Thunderstorm
Comments: 1
Kudos: 86





	Roll For Charisma

**Author's Note:**

> This is my piece for the Rolling 20 Klance zine.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy it!

Pike stares, completely at a loss for words.

“It’s a—“

“—Dragon,” Thunder finishes with a deadpan. 

As if they don’t have enough to deal with already. Yes, they may have finally found the amulet and Pike effortlessly managed to slip it into his pocket without immediate notice but not before their general presence in the kingdom was reported to Prince Ezra himself. And that in and of itself was enough of a problem. 

Throw a dragon into the mix and it’s safe to say they weren’t having the best of luck at the moment. 

The air in the cavern thickens with a hot rush of air, humid and stale with an odor that can only be described as charred flesh. Pike turns away, choking on a gag.

Beside him, there’s the unmistakable hiss of metal and sharp crack of electricity. Pike whips back to see Thunder extracting his blades from their sheaths.

“What are you doing?!” Pike barely manages to keep his voice down, tail twitching in panic as he grabs Thunder’s forearm before he can foolishly charge into the literal dragon’s den. 

Thunder glances at Pike with a frown then back toward where the dragon lays as if he can’t quite fathom what the problem is. He gestures with his blade. “What does it look like I’m doing? Getting ready for a fight.”

“We can’t  _ fight a dragon _ !” Pike hisses, pulling Thunder further into the shadows and subsequent safety of the rockface. But the tunnel they’re in is narrow and not much of a hiding spot. Sooner or later the beast will realize they are here or the men tracking them will close the gap. Either way, they can only go forward, through the tunnel on the other side and past the very real fire-breathing dragon. They both know it.

Doesn’t mean Pike is ready to admit defeat, least of all to Thunder.

Thunder huffs, electricity sparking across his blades with his annoyance. “You want to go back and take your chances with Ezra’s army, be my guest,” he growls, a sharpness in his dark eyes that gives no ground for argument. “I prefer my head on my shoulders, thank you very much.”

If Pike wasn’t already gone for him, he sure is now. There’s a heat to Thunder, a roguish jagged edge to his otherwise noble tendencies, born from having his once honorable title dragged through the dirt and the mud for the past year by the royal family he once swore to serve. Pike never could withstand a dangerous man with a heart of gold.

Curse his stupid idiotic heart. It’s how he ended up following Thunder across the country, getting into one mishap after another, always with the threat of death hanging over their heads should they be caught. Not that Pike wasn’t used to such things, being a thief by trade and a swindler by habit, but never had he faced such high-risk stakes before. 

Like running into the literal belly of the beast to escape a more fearsome enemy.

Pike grips Thunder’s arm tighter. “And I prefer not to be cooked alive! Some of us aren’t immune to fire, remember?”

The dark glint fades from Thunder’s eyes, softening in understanding and something resembling guilt. “Look,” he sighs, stepping closer and grabbing Pike’s forearm in a silent show of camaraderie and respect, “we don’t really have a choice here. I’ll take the head, hold it’s focus and flame and you can sneak around the rear, alright?”

Pike is sure his heart is fit to burst under the heat of Thunder’s touch and the warmth in his eyes. He all but melts like wax in his hands, ready to agree to just about anything.

Instead, an idea begins to sprout. 

“No, not alright,” Pike says with a shake of his head. A smile tugs at his lips as he looks at Thunder. “How about we try it my way first, then if that fails we can go in blades swinging.”

Thunder releases Pike’s arm with a pinch in his brow. “Your way?”

“I can charm the pants off anything.” Confidence growing, Pike flashes Thunder a cheeky smile and nudges him with an elbow to his side. 

Thunder frowns. “Dragons don’t wear pants.”

“Trust me,” Pike assures with a wink. And before Thunder can stop him, he dashes out from their shadowy cover and towards the dragon.

Spur of the moment, winging it, that’s how he’s managed to stay alive thus far. Why should this be any different?

Pike regrets his decision almost instantly as the dragon stirs and its eyes open, gaze focusing on Pike in a heartbeat. A puff of smoke billows from its nostrils as it slowly unfurls itself, dark red scales glinting in the light from the mounds of gold, silver, copper, and various precious jewels and trinkets piled high around the cavern walls.

They grossly underestimated the size of this dragon.

It towers over Pike, easily standing at one hundred hands and nearly double that in width at full wing-span. Its eyes flash, dark and dangerous with the promise of a painful bloody death as it shows off sharp teeth and even sharper claws with a clack against the rock of the cavern floor.

But Pike has never been one to back down from a challenge, no matter how painful the death may be should he fail. And it will be painful.

He flashes his most award-winning smile, shoulders back in casual flirtatious confidence, and ventures forward into new territory. “Hello there, beautiful. Come here often or is it just my lucky day?”

The dragon glares down at him, large dark eyes narrowing before rearing back, nostrils flaring and letting out a roar that he can feel reverberating through the cavern floor. Trinkets cascade off the top of the hoard behind it, metal clinking as it tumbles. 

Pike pales and backs away slowly as the dragon stomps its feet, clearly outraged.

“Thunder,” he calls over his shoulder without taking his eyes off the murderous dragon before him, “your turn buddy.”

“My turn to what?”

The cavern is suddenly very hot and Pike scrambles back as a burning glow of fire begins to build in the dragon’s breast. “Seduce it!”

“No, absolutely not.” Thunder growls with a crack of electricity. “Let’s just take it down.”

“We don’t stand a chance!” Pike shouts desperately. “Just try!”

“No!”

“Thunder!”

“Pike!”

“Do it!”

“Fine!”

With all the stubbornness of a youngling during bathtime, Thunder steps out from the shadows. The dragon’s attention immediately snaps to him, nostrils flaring in rage and Pike groans at the grimace Thunder tries to pass off as a smile. 

“Uh, hi.” Thunder awkwardly waves at the dragon.

They’re doomed.

But the dragon doesn’t attack. Instead, the fire in its breast reduces to a mere simmer as it stares down at Thunder. Pike remains frozen with bated breath, watching as the dragon slowly lowers its head to Thunder’s level and sniffs. 

Thunder flinches but stands his ground.

And with a great heaving sigh, the dragon settles its head on the cavern floor in front of Thunder and puffs a soft billow of smoke to surround him.

A clear sign of acceptance.

Pike stares, bewildered from his cowering position. “Seriously?” 

The dragon’s gaze flits toward Pike, baring its teeth in a growl, the fire flickering back to life in its chest. Pike scrambles back further.

Thunder steps between them, blocking Pike from the dragon’s view and grabbing its attention fully. The building fire dies almost immediately. “Your scales are very shiny.”

If Pike didn’t know any better, he’d say the dragon almost seems to melt at Thunder’s words. Its tongue pokes out and swipes along Thunder’s face, leaving a thin trail of saliva.

“Oh, uh, thank you, I’m—I’m honored.”

Pike has to stifle a laugh behind his hand, watching his extremely uncomfortable companion deal with the flirting of an enormous fire-breathing dragon. It would be funnier if they weren’t still trying to escape with their lives, in fact, Pike might actually sit back and enjoy watching this spectacle—though even as they are, he’s still enjoying this. But instead, he uses the dragon’s distracted attention to his full advantage and slowly, evenly so as not to draw attention to himself, starts edging toward the back of the cavern. Towards the exit.

“You smell, uh, wonderful.” Thunder’s tone picks up at the last word and Pike can’t help but glance back at him. The dragon’s snout is nudging at his hood, sniffing at the locks of hair falling across his face. “Like, charred meat.”

Pike chuckles into his hands and Thunder turns his head, their eyes meeting.

The dragon, thankfully, seems more interested in Thunder’s hair, the hood finally falling to rest around his shoulders, than anything Pike is doing. And he’s not about to turn down the opportunity to escape. 

And Thunder, well, he seems to have this handled.

Thunder must see what Pike’s about to do before he moves because he starts shaking his head, eyes narrowed in a clear threatening  _ don’t leave me here _ motion.

Pike just grins, sending a wink, kiss, and finger guns Thunder’s way as he mouths,  _ Have fun _ , before dashing the final few meters around the dragon’s large body and through the tunnel at the rear of the cavern.

* * *

Pike shifts against the rockface, leaning more of his weight against its sun-warmed surface and enjoying the wind teasing at his ears. He closes his eyes, soaking it all up. Gods, how he had missed this. Two days in the cave system is enough to drive anyone crazy and Pike is just glad to be out of there. And away from the dragon. 

A flicker of concern sparks in him for Thunder but he stamps it down. It’s been ten minutes, he’s fine.

Though if he still hasn’t emerged in an hour, then he’ll have to consider ducking back in to retrieve his companion. But hopefully, it doesn’t come to that. Facing a dragon once was good enough for a lifetime, thank you.

As though summoned from his thoughts, light distant footsteps echo out of the cave tunnel and Pike allows himself a moment of relief. He eases into a knowing grin as the footsteps grow ever closer and then Thunder appears. There’s a train of smoke wafting from his cloak and hood, the garment singed in a few places and covered in thin trails of dragon saliva. His vambraces and greeves fared no better, soot dulling the metal, covered in more saliva, and dirt that sticks in the grooves and carved designs as if he’d been knocked off his feet at some point. 

But the smell, the smell is the worst.

A foul mixture between rotting and overcooked flesh with a hint of blood and bile. Pike stares at him, caught between shock and amusement but in the end, the latter wins out. He chuckles, grin widening, a joke on the tip of his tongue.

But Thunder beats him to it. 

“Not. A Word,” he growls, shoving a threatening, saliva-covered finger in Pike’s face. He pulls it back just as fast and wipes it hastily on his cloak, cheeks red.

That only tips Pike further and he doubles over laughing, barely holding himself together.

A growl erupts from Thunder as he frantically tries to wipe the grime off his gloves and vambraces. “This never happened!”

“Oh, but it did, stud,” Pike says between breaths as he comes down from the high. He hums, still grinning. “I’m a bit jealous, actually. Some might even say you cheated on me.”

Thunder’s cheeks redden even further, whether from anger or embarrassment, Pike doesn’t know. Knowing him, probably both.

He doesn’t deal with attention very well, as Pike learned early on.

Thunder huffs out another growl, eyes dark. “I swear, Pike—”

“—But I’m sure given time,” Pike continues, bullying over Thunder’s threat with another wink, “I can forgive you.”

They stare at each other for a moment, Pike with unabashed amusement and Thunder in scowling embarrassment. 

Thunder breaks first, his tense shoulders easing and scowl diffusing into a smug smile. Pike’s grin falters.

“How about now?” Thunder steps forward, arms open in invitation, strings of saliva dangling from his armor. “Come here.”

Pike squeaks, backing away quickly. “Ah no, get away from me. You reek!” Any other time Pike would gladly revel in such contact, but now? He’d rather not have to spend an hour scrubbing off that smell. But he can’t hide the laughter in his voice. 

“Let me make it up to you.” Thunder follows his movement, his grin a facade of malice. “Share in the spoils.” 

Pike lets out a peal of laughter as Thunder lunges. But he easily sidesteps before turning tail and running off into the surrounding forest, Thunder quick on his heels. 

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my Instagram for more Klance and VLD drabbles and short fics: [staymagwrites](https://www.instagram.com/staymagwrites/)


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